Evan Herber Evans was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 Nonconformist minister.

Evans was born at Pant-yr-onen near Betws Ifan

Betws Ifan

Betws Ifan is a small village located in Ceredigion, Wales.Surrounding villages include Beulah, Brongest, Glynarthen and Aberporth. Betws Ifan is only a few miles away from Cardigan town and Newcastle Emlyn town. The village is built around the village hall, located in the heart of the village...

 in Ceredigion

Ceredigion

Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...

. As a boy he saw something of the Rebecca Riots

Rebecca Riots

The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in South and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to perceived unfair taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were...

, and went to school at the neighboring village of Llechryd

Llechryd

Llechryd is a village lying on the A484 road approximately from Cardigan, in Ceredigion, Wales.-Etymology:The name Llechryd derives from the Welsh for "Slate Ford" , as slate was once extracted from nearby quarries. The canal was used to transport fresh water to a tin works which used to stand...

. In 1853 he went into business, first at Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

 and then at Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...

, but next year made his way to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. He decided to enter the ministry, and studied arts and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 respectively at the Normal College, Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, and the Memorial College, Brecon

Brecon

Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

, his convictions being deepened by the religious revival of 1858-1859.

In 1862 he succeeded Thomas Jones as minister of the Congregational church at Morriston

Morriston

Morriston is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town , however Morriston never had a town charter, and is now part of the continuous urban area around Swansea, the centre of which lies three...

 near Swansea. In 1865 he became pastor of Capel Salemhttp://www.salemcaernarfon.org.uk/ddoe.htm, Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

, a charge which he occupied for nearly thirty years despite many invitations to English pastorates. In 1894 he became Principal of the newly united Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary

Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary

Bala-Bangor was a theological seminary belonging to the Welsh Independents , an association of Welsh congregationalists. It was founded in Bala, Gwynedd in 1842 under the principalship of Michael Jones , who was followed by his son Michael D. Jones .During Michael D...

at Bangor.

He was chairman of the Welsh Congregational Union in 1886 and of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1892; and by his earnest ministry, his eloquence and his literary work, especially in the denominational paper Y Dysgedydd, he achieved a position of great influence in his country.

See Life by H Elvet Lewis.